Method of treating unattached soles



ocgzl, 1941. s, G, Ross 2,259,586

METHOD OF TREATINGUNATTACHED SOLES Filed Nov. 1:5, 1939 SMQ am Patented Oct. 21, 1941 SOLE Simon G. Ross, Lynn, Mass., assigner to United Shoe Machinery Corporation,

Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 15, 1939, Serial No. 304,577

(Cl. 12-l46) 3 Claims.

by way of example, with reference to treatingoutsoles but it is not limited to outsole treatment since in some circumstances it may be applicable to the treatment of other articles made of leather'.

The invention is predicated upon the factthat when leather is in a condition that is considered dry from the standpoint of shoemaking, its pores contain air in addition to residual quantities of tanning substances. Consequently,` to enable a liquid such as Water to bring a sole into a satisfactory state of temper for Various shoemaking operations, including channeling, rounding, laying, stitching, or attaching with cement, channelclosing and leveling, it is necessary to remove a considerable proportion of the air initially in the leather, much of which is trapped in the pores by the residual tanning substances. vIt is only with -difliculty that air lmay be removed through the grain side of leather, since that side is much more dense than the flesh side. Again,

if a marginal band of the esh side has been F25 fleshed and coated with attaching cement the latter forms a barrier by which air is trapped in the pores covered thereby. These conditions of inequality of perviousness have heretofore rendered tempering difficult and unsatisfactory in that some parts of a sole mayr become sodden with too much moisture before other `parts have absorbed enough moisture to renderthem pliant.

To shorten the time required to temper a sole and at the same time to facilitate the dispersion of a tempering liquid through-the soles, =the invention provides'an improved method which consists in puncturing the flesh side of a `sole at many points Without puncturing the grain side thereof, immersing the sole in a tempering liquid, and removing the sole `from the liquid before any part of it becomes sodden. 'The puncturing may be done either by pricking many small holes in the flesh side with needle-points or by scoring theflesh side with many iine cuts as With a knife-edge or a group of them. 'If the Vpunc`v tures are formed by scoring, the 'scoring cuts need not all be parallel and `need not all extend in one general direction but may intersect one another, the essential consideration being that they shall break into the pores in the flesh side of the leather and loosen the residual `tanning substances to a degree that will release much of the air that would otherwise remain trapped yto enter the pores. The pricking procedure has the same releasingeifect,` and both have a 'flexing eifect `that is not lost when the tempering moisture has evaporated from the sole.

If asole is to be attached with `cement alone, a strong attaching bond requires the cement to be applied thereto while the sole is dry. Moreover, the procedure requires shaping the sole to nal configuration, iieshing it and roughing a marginal band thereof before applying attaching cement to the' latter. According to the novel method disclosed herein, the puncturing or scoringof the flesh side of the sole will be done after the attaching cement lhas been applied and has grown hard, and some of the punctures or scoring cuts will break through the band of cement. Consequently, when the sole is thereafter subjected -to a tempering fluid, the latter Will pass lthrough the band of cement and -some of Athe airin v4the pores ofthe cement-coated margin of leather may escape through the breaks in the cement.

Again, some manufacturers temper soles in liquid at atmospheric pressure, While others, to shorten the time required for tempering, speed the eiilux of air from the pores Aby subjecting the tempering liquid to minus pressure while the sole-or soles are immersed therein andthis-stage `of minus pressure may be followed by a stage of atmospheric pressure with or without a subsequent stage of plus pressure or another .stage of minus pressure. For the purposes of -this description, minus pressure is to be understood as any pressure below atmospheric pressure and plus pressure is tobe understood as any pressure above atmospheric pressure, regardless of whether this classication is the one commonly recognized by'scientic authorities. 1

If attaching cement be applied to a sole when n the latter -is not'in temper to avoid impairing the efiiciency of the cement, and if approximately uniform `tempering of coated and -uncoated Vportionscf a sole is desired, it maybe obtained by utilizing the principles of the present invention according to the following method-of lprocedure which consists in coating only a marginal band of the fleshfside of a sole with attaching cement,

. permitting the cement to dry or harden thereon,

puncturing the band of cement at many points either by pricking many small holes through A'it or byscoring it with many ne lines With-much or little penetration of the flesh part of theband, immersing the sole in a tempering liquid, Jand removing the sole from the liquid before the unin the leather to repell temperingliquid seeking 55 coated area of the flesh side becomes sodden.

of the sole, the preliminary puncturing of the Y band of cement, according to this procedure will, in a great measure, counteract the initial difference between the coated area and the uncoated area with respect to their ability to emit air from the pores and admit a tempering fluid into them. Approximation of uniformity in this respect will be further promoted by subjecting the tempering uid to a stage of minus pressure by which the air in the pores of the coated band will be withdrawn quickly through the punctures in the r barrier of cement, while the air in the uncoated areal is being withdrawn through the unpunctured surface thereof.

The procedure last described is predicated upon a preference for approximately uniform tempering of coated and uncoated areas of a sole, but to satisfy a demand for more temper of a selected area than all other areas the selected area may be punctured accordingly and the other areas provided With fewer punctures or` none at all, as circumstances may require.

. ,The invention provides still another improved procedure which consists in coating with attaching cement a marginal band of the flesh side of a fleshed and roughed sole, permitting the cement to'dry or harden thereon, puncturing both the .coated area and the uncoated area of the forepart and the shank, but preferably not the heel- `seat (because not much moisture is ever desired in the heel-seat), immersing the sole in a tempering liquid, and removing the sole from the tempering liquid before it becomes sodden. Even though this latter procedure may result in greater intake of liquid in the uncoated portions of the forepart and the shank than in the cement-coated, portions thereof, capillary action will transfer someY of the absorbed liquid from the uncoated area to the coated area and thus,

in some measure, increases the tempered condition ofthe coated area before the subsequent .shoemaking operations that require the sole to Vbe in temper have been performed.

To practice any or all of the improvements herein vset forth does not require any special apparatus unless the Ywork is to be subjected to changes of fluid pressure during the tempering operation. One type of apparatus designed to speedthe tempering of soles by subjecting the tempering liquid to minus pressure with or Without a stage of plus pressure is illustrated in Figs.

3 and 4 of United States Letters Patent No. 1,948,994, granted February 27, 1934, on application of H. S. Pochin. vThe pressures of the tempering liquid may be regulated at will in such apparatus.

. YThe puncturing of the flesh side of the leather or of the coating of cement, or both, may be much or little, deep or shallow, according to the character. of the leather, the character of the cementor according tothe results desired. Accordingly, to obtain uneven tempering and to control localization thereof in selected'portions of a sole, the invention provides still another improved procedure which consists in puncturing the flesh side of a sole at many points in a certain selected area Where the greatest degree of tempering is desired, puncturing one or more other areas at fewer points per unit of area, omitting all puncturing in an area Where the least moisture is desired, immersing the sole thus unevenly or unequally punctured in a tempering liquid, and removing the sole from the liquid before it becomes sodden in the most punctured area. Such a procedurel will produce tempering of different degrees according to Whether the area affected has been punctured or not, and if punctured at all, Vaccording to whether the puncturing is much or little.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig, 1 represents the flesh side of a block sole, a limited area of which has been punctured with many small holes to speed impregnation with the tempering fluid;

Fig. 2 represents the flesh side of a sole that has been fleshed and shaped to final conguration, a marginal band thereof being roughed and coated with attaching cement and a limited area thereof being punctured with many small holes some of which extend through the band of cement;

' Fig. 3 represents a sole likewise shaped to final configuration, a marginal band thereof being roughed and coated with attaching cement and punctured with many small holes.

In the manufacture of Welt shoes, it is customary to use an outsole IIJ of 4the block type (Fig. 1) to be shaped after it is attached with stitches. Soles of this type are commonly tempered with water before being laid. The degree of temper should be enough to facilitate rough rounding, channeling and all making operations to be performed before the usual bottom-nishing operations. Not much tempering is required at the toe end, or at the heel end, but the shank and region of therball should be well tempered to facilitate conforming the sole to the corresponding regions of a shoe in the sole-laying stage and again inthe leveling stage. Accordingly, to insure a greater degree of temper in the ball and shank areas, the present invention provides for a greater degree of impregnation With a tempering fluid in consequence of puncturing the flesh side` ofthese areas with many small holes indicatedvby dots Il. This puncturing may be vdone with one or more strokes of a block (not shown) provided with many small sharp points that will penetrate the sole from the flesh side Without going through the sole to the grain side. After the sole is so punctured, it will be subjected to a tempering operation which may consist merely in immersing the sole in water or other tempering liquid at atmospheric pressure for a suitable length of time preferably not enough to render the sole sodden. The intake of the tempering liquid in the punctured area will be greater than that in the unpunctured areas and the degrees of temper in the punctured and unpunctured areas will differ accordingly.

On the other hand, if more rapid tempering is desired, the sole may be subjected to one or more stages of vminus pressure With or Without one or more stages of positive pressure, or one or more stages of atmospheric pressure, while immersed in a bath of temperingliquid in an apparatus utilizing the principles disclosed in the abovementioned Letters Patent 1,948,994. When those principles are utilized air iswithdrawn from the pores of the leather by the minus pressure and .the tempering liquid readily enters the leather through the punctures and is dispersed laterally from them.

If a sole such as that indicated at I2 in Fig. 2 is to be attached with cement alone, it will rst be eshed, then shaped to final configuration as represented in this figure, and a marginal band of its attaching face will be roughed and thereafter coated with attaching cement insoluble in water. The cement is indicated by shading I3. When this band of cement has grown hard, any selected area of the sole Where flexibility is particularly desired may be punctured with many small holes, again indicated by dots II. In this example some of the punctures are localized in the cemented band, and of these some are more closely spaced than others to insure a greater degree of temper in the shank than in the forepart. Other punctures more widely spaced are localized in the uncoated area of the ball region of the forepart. The punctures in the band of cement not only permit an influx of the tempering fluid but also permit emission of air that would otherwise be trapped in the pores of the band so coated. When a sole thus prepared is subsequently subjected to a tempering uid, it will derive various degrees of temper in different areas according to the location of the cement, the location of the punctures and the spacing of the punctures, one from another.

If desired, the punctures may be restricted to the cement-coated band as represented in Fig. 3, in which the sole I4 is rst fleshed, then shaped to nal conguration, and a marginal band of its attaching face roughed and thereafter coated with attaching cement I3 as described with reference to Fig. 2. After this band of the cement has grown hard, it may be punctured with enough small holes, indicated by dots I5, to admit quantities of tempering fluid that will not dissolve the cement but will temper the margins to about the same degree as the uncoated area. Since no sole requires much, if any exibility or temper at its extremities, the punctures may be omitted accordingly, and such omission is represented in all the iigures. Once the punctures have been located according to the results desired, the sole will be impregnated with a tempering fluid having the characteristics above specified.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of treating articles of sole-leather which consists in coating an area of the esh side of an article with an adhesive substance, permitting the adhesive coating to dry or harden thereon, puncturng the coating of said substance at many points to enable air and liquid to flow readily through it, immersing the article in -a bath of tempering liquid in which said adhesive substance is insoluble, and removing it from the bath before it becomes sodden.

2. That improvement in methods of treating unattached leather soles which consists in coating only a marginal band of the flesh side of a sole with attaching cement insoluble in water, permitting the coating of cementto dry or harden thereon, puncturng the band of cement and the leather thereunder at many points to facilitate the eiux of air from the pores in said band and the inux of liquid into said pores, immersing the sole in a bath of water, and removing the sole from said bath before it becomes sodden.

3. 'I'he improved method set forth in claim 2 supplemented by the intermediate step of subjecting the water to minus pressure while the sole is immersed therein to Withdraw air from the pores in said band and through the openings punctured in the cement with which said band is coated.

SIMON G. ROSS. 

